Middle School Maglev Contest at Brookhaven Lab, March 24

March 17, 2010

EVENT: Model maglev vehicles built by Long Island middle school students will be tested for speed, efficiency, and appearance at the 20th Annual Middle School Magnetic Levitation Contest. Maglev — the suspension, guidance and propulsion of vehicles by magnetic forces — was invented and patented in 1968 by Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists Gordon Danby and James Powell.

Media are invited to the contest. The event is closed to the general public because of space limitations. All visitors age 16 and older must bring a photo ID to be allowed on site.

WHEN: 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday, March 24

WHERE: Brookhaven Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory. The Lab is located on William Floyd Parkway (County Road 46), one-and-a-half miles north of Exit 68 of the Long Island Expressway.

DETAILS: More than 200 middle school students from Nassau and Suffolk Counties have entered the 2010 Maglev contest. (See list of participating schools.) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory sponsors the event.

Maglev may one day solve today’s traffic congestion problems and automotive air pollution. Maglev vehicles float over a fixed track, supported and driven by magnetic fields. While barely leaving the ground, a maglev vehicle may go as fast as an airplane. Students were required to design and construct model maglev vehicles according to engineering specifications. Students recorded their planning process in “design briefs,” which also count in the judging. Dozens of handmade vehicles zooming down maglev tracks, cheered on by dozens of students, will provide excellent visuals.

Call Diane Greenberg at 631 344-2347 if you plan to attend the contest.

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Brookhaven National Laboratory is a multipurpose research
institution funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Located on
Long Island, NY, Brookhaven operates large-scale facilities for
studies in physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, applied
science, and advanced technology. The Laboratory's almost 3,000
scientists, engineers, and support staff are joined each year by
more than 5,000 visiting researchers from around the world.

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical,
biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security.
Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry
and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven
Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation for the State
University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory
facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit applied science and technology organization.